COLBINABBIN faces a crucial test against North Bendigo in this Saturday’s 11th round in Agnico Eagle Fosterville Gold Mine Heathcote DFNL senior footy.
The Grasshoppers and Bulldogs will play at M.J. Morgan Oval in Colbinabbin from 2.20pm.
It’s second against third.
The Linton Jacobs-coached Colbinabbin can strengthen its credentials of a top-three finish and double chance at finals time by beating North Bendigo for a second time this season.
When these clubs met in round two it was the Grasshoppers who fought on for a five-point victory at North Bendigo’s Atkins Street ground.
In a season where it’s been defeated by seven points or less on three occasions and drawn a match, North Bendigo is third in the premiership race on 22 points.
The Grasshoppers and Bulldogs take winning form into this match.
Colbinabbin won its home game against Elmore by 39 points as Alex Carr, Brandyn Grenfell and Sam Ryan led attack.
Best for the green and gold were Isaac Carracher, Jai Carn, Charlie Ryan and Toby Howlett.
Six goals by Jordan Ford earnt best-on-ground honours as North Bendigo beat Lockington Bamawm United by 64 points as Bailey Cain, Aarryn Craig and Jordan Hargreaves also starred.
Colbinabbin welcomes back the pacy Domonic Sullivan for his fourth match with the club.
The Grasshoppers’ squad includes Aidan Basile, Connor Aldous, Jasper McArdle and Tanner Nally.
North Bendigo will be without key forward Dylan Klemm and the versatile Darcy Richards.
Players to watch in the red, white and blue include co-coach Ryan Hartley, Ryan Gillingham, Will Gilmore, Riley Paetow and Cody Riddick.
Father and son Rob and Will Bennett play key roles as non-playing co-coach and on-baller respectively.
Rested by the bye, Heathcote’s back on its turf at Pigeon Park in Barrack Reserve to take on Leitchville Gunbower.
In round two it was the LG Bombers who beat the Saints by 11 points in Gunbower.
Heathcote marked one of its best performances of recent seasons in a 98-all draw with Mount Pleasant in round nine in Toolleen.
Best for the Saints were Stefan Rasinac, Rhys Bolton, Codie Price and Dillon Williams.
Beat the Bombers and the Heathcote team coached by Andrew Saladino, non-playing, and Liam Jacques, playing, will reclaim a top-five berth.
Key match-ups for Saturday’s game include Jordan Marcroft in the ruck against Darcy Elliott, Lachlan Freeman-Taber at centre half-back against Blake Dye, and Daniel Johnstone at full-back opposed to Ryan Allan.
The Joel Donehue-coached Leitchville Gunbower worked hard to finish within three goals of Mount Pleasant last round.
Players to watch for the Bombers include Nic Cattapan, Luke Davis, Jye Keath, Ben Paterson and Charles Hancock.
The Harlowe Huntly Hawks will be in their Strauch Reserve nest against Mount Pleasant.
Gun forward Sam Dunstan kicked eight goals in Huntly’s win against White Hills.
The Blues named Deklan Wille at full-back.
Just how much supply the Hawks can generate for Dunstan and the rest of the attack will have a major bearing on Huntly’s chances.
At the other end of the ground, Mount Pleasant’s Ben Weightman leads the league goalkicking race on 37 goals.
Highlight of this contest will be in the ruck where Nathan Dunstan takes on Blues’ star Chris Down.
Hawks’ on-ballers Darcy Walsh and Todd Stevenson are up against the skilful Xavier Carter and Jack Hickman.
In defence Huntly has Will Lee, Mitch Billings and Brodie Fry to take on Alex and Joel Wharton, and Nick Butler.
Hawks’ forwards Abe Sladden, Lachy Wilson, Stefan Pye and Joseph Artavilla will be opposed by William Wallace, Michael Whiting, Seb Greene and Bryce Hinneberg.
At Lockington’s Nichol Trading Oval the Lockington Bamawm United Cats take on White Hills.
The Jayden Howe-coached Cats are fifth in the league standings on a five-four record.
In the season opener it was White Hills which beat LBU by three points.
Best for LBU in the clash at North Bendigo were Nick Smart, Marcus Angove, Jack O’Callaghan and Lachlan Holthuisen.
Thomas Leech kicked four goals against the Bulldogs.
In the ruck it’s three-time Sam Cheatley medallist Tyler Phillips who will lead the way for LBU against Jack Lawton.
Another key duel will be in the centre where LBU’s Bowden Stone faces Doolan Nihill.
Other key players for the Cats are Charlie Hinks and Jeremy Mundie on the wings, Brodie Collins, Jack Jansen and Luke Saligari.
Best for White Hills at Huntly were rover Seth Boyd, key defender Patrick Crawford, Charlie Mortimer and Noah Jorgensen-Slimmon.
The Brad McConnell and Lachie Sawyer-coached Demons will look to Mitch Dole, Ben Irvine, Cohen Kekich, Jake Thompson and Nick Wallace to play their part in taking the points against the Cats once again.
Elmore has the bye.
Heathcote DFNL senior footy ladder:
Mount Pleasant 138 per cent, 32 points; Colbinabbin 139, 28; North Bendigo 148, 22; Leitchville Gunbower 95, 20; Lockington Bamawm United 91, 20; Heathcote 107, 18; Huntly 89, 8; White Hills 65, 8; Elmore 62, 4.
Leaders in the goalkicking race:
37 Ben Weightman, MP.
30 Sam Dunstan, Huntly.
29 Dylan Johnstone, H’cote.
28 Brandyn Grenfell, C.
22 Blake Dye, LG; Dylan Klemm, NB; Sean Williams, H’cote.
19 Cody Riddick, NB.
18 Ryan Allan, LG; James Harney, E.
17 Tyler Phillips, LBU.
16 Alex Carr, C; Brayden Hull, LBU.
15 Lachie Gawel, E; Jake Thompson, WH.
14 Jake Dean, NB; Thomas Leech, LBU.
In the netball……HEATHCOTE has a great chance to edge closer to the top five in Saturday’s 11th round of A-grade netball in the Agnico Eagle Fosterville Gold Mine Heathcote DFNL season.
The Saints will be back on their court at Pigeon Park in Barrack Reserve to play Leitchville Gunbower from 3pm.
A Heathcote line-up coached by Brooke Price rolls into this match in eighth place on a two-six record.
In a close-fought battle to be in fifth place it’s Huntly which leads the way on 14 points as Lockington Bamawm United, Elmore and Heathcote are all locked on six points.
Best performance by Heathcote this season was in round seven on North Bendigo’s court at Bendigo Club Oval in Atkins Street.
The Saints surged to a 45-35 victory against the red, white and blue.
As Heathcote had the bye last round Leitchville Gunbower played Mount Pleasant in Toolleen.
The Bombers could not halt Mounts racing to a 79-27 victory.
An LG team coached by Katie Pollock played well to beat Heathcote by six goals when they met at Gunbower in round two.
The Saints will be keen to show they learnt a lot from that loss as they strive to take the points this time.
Three wins in a row has put North Bendigo in fourth place on the ladder.
The Kiralee Kinder-coached North Bendigo is three wins clear of the sixth-placed Lockington Bamawm United.
Huge test for the Bulldogs this Saturday as they trek to Colbinabbin’s M.J. Morgan Oval.
The clash of the Grasshoppers and Bulldogs will start at 2.30pm.
Back in round two it was Colbinabbin which scored a 27-goal victory on North Bendigo’s court.
An unbeaten Colbinabbin won its latest hit-out at home against Elmore by 44 goals.
Since it was runner-up to Elmore in the ’24 grand final the Jen McIntyre-coached Colbinabbin has gone on a 27-match winning streak.
The Bulldogs fought on for a 54-45 win at home against Lockington Bamawm United last Saturday.
North Bendigo has not featured in A-grade finals since the 2016 preliminary final and will be keen to play well against the green and gold.
Huntly’s back on its court at Strauch Reserve to play Mount Pleasant.
A Huntly team coached by Kym Bell and Ash Sherlock has racked up 3 ½ wins to be fifth on the ladder.
In last Saturday’s play the Hawks could not halt White Hills on its way to a 49-37 victory in Huntly.
The Anthea McCleary-coached Mount Pleasant poured in 79 goals against Leitchville Gunbower.
In round two it was the Blues who beat Huntly by 37 goals in Toolleen.
Lockington Bamawm United hosts White Hills at Lockington’s Nichol Trading Oval.
Another massive challenge for the Stacy Bacon-coached LBU following last Saturday’s defeat in North Bendigo.
The Cats take on the Elley Lawton-coached White Hills which has won seven matches and is third on the ladder.
Wins for the Demons include the 68-41 result on their Scott Street court against LBU in round two.
Elmore has the bye.
Standings in the Heathcote DFNL A-grade netball competition:
Colbinabbin 225 per cent, 36 points; Mount Pleasant 194, 32; White Hills 130, 28; North Bendigo 91, 20; Huntly 80, 14; Lockington Bamawm United 76, 8; Elmore 69, 8; Heathcote 67, 8; Leitchville Gunbower 57, 6.
Colbinabbin: Jen McIntyre
Elmore: Adam Boldiston
Heathcote: Brooke Price
Huntly: Kym Bell, Ashlea Sherlock
Leitchville Gunbower: Katie Pollock
Lockington Bamawm United: Stacy Bacon
Mount Pleasant: Anthea McCleary
North Bendigo: Kiralee Kinder
White Hills: Elley Lawton
Heathcote DFNL netball ladders after 10 rounds:
A-reserve:
Colbinabbin 149 per cent, 36 points; Mount Pleasant 203, 30; North Bendigo 132, 24; Huntly 121, 24; White Hills 124, 22; Leitchville Gunbower 65, 12; Heathcote 52, 8; Lockington Bamawm United 62, 4; Elmore 62, 0.
B-grade:
White Hills 160 per cent, 36 points; Mount Pleasant 133, 28; Leitchville Gunbower 111, 24; Huntly 110, 20; Heathcote 101, 20; Colbinabbin 93, 12; Elmore 73, 10; North Bendigo 78, 6; Lockington Bamawm United 58, 4.
B-reserve:
Lockington Bamawm United 158 per cent, 32 points; Huntly 154, 32; White Hills 148, 28; Mount Pleasant 105, 24; Heathcote 109, 16; North Bendigo 107, 12; Elmore 101, 12; Colbinabbin 42, 4; Leitchville Gunbower 40, 0.
17-and-under:
Mount Pleasant 152 per cent, 36 points; White Hills 163, 32; Lockington Bamawm United 156, 28; Leitchville Gunbower 102, 20; Elmore 85, 18; Huntly 87, 12; Heathcote 75, 8; Colbinabbin 61, 6; Norht Bendigo 54, 0.
15-and-under:
Lockington Bamawm United 190 per cent, 36 points; White Hills 193, 32; Heathcote 116, 20; Mount Pleasant 108, 20; Colbinabbin 92, 16; Elmore 92, 14; Leitchville Gunbower 72, 12; Huntly 59, 6; North Bendigo 46, 4.
13-and-under:
Leitchville Gunbower 315 per cent, 36 points; Lockington Bamawm United 200, 32; Mount Pleasant 143, 24; Colbinabbin 118, 20; Huntly 78, 18; Elmore 89, 16; North Bendigo 76, 10; White Hills 53, 4; Heathcote 16, 0.